Review on "Much Ado About Nothing"

      Last Monday, my class and I went to see the play "Much Ado About Nothing."  I have never seen the play or leanred about it before this, so it was interetsing to see something new.  There were many elements that made up this play and made it good.  There was the acting and the plot and characters and then the more "behind the scenes" stuff like the set design/ lighting, costumes and music. 

      There were many different big characters who all had different personalities.  But they were all involved with eachother and were all connected.  Not having to do with the actual play but just in genereal, I noticed that the characters were different races because it was supposed to be placed in 1920, not in the 1500s.  The plot was interesting and twisted with secret lovers and people tricking one another and falling in love.  There were many things going on.  Each character had their own story but the characters were joined together, forming the plot.  The actual actors played their characters very well.  They were very professional and exaggerated actors.  They had power and energy.  They always stood in character and even when they weren't the center of attention but were on stage, they were still acting.  Th actors were also very emotional and very into what they were doing.

      The other stuff that didn't have to do with the actual plot but what tied the whole play together and made it "for real" were the set design/ lighting, music and costumes.  For the set desgin and lighting, I noticed that they had a moon in the backgrounbd to show time of day, they always had it dark or lighter to show time of day.  I always liked how they played around with the shadows and silhouettes, it sort of set the mood and made your eyes even be interested.  I noticed that for the set design/ props they had an alcohol cabinet and tables and when they would change or fix the props, the transitions would be fast.  To set the time period and make everything come alive, they had music.  It was jazzy and complimeted the scenes.  There were also instruments and the music showed the mood.  The characters were aware of the music and interacted with it like at the ball when they were dancing.  Now, my favorite part to talk about: costumes!  I noticed that the clothing was modern and the clothing would fit the character snd their role.  I noticed that there were a lot of dresses and masks and Hero's wedding dress was really pretty and went well with her character's personality.

      All in all, I pretty much enjoyed this play and all the details and little things that tied it together.  I loved the energy, acting, costuming and watching eveything connect and come alive.  From seeing this play (which was a great experience), it helped me to visualize better and imagine and understand things about Shakespeare in a new eye.  I would reccommend this play. 

The Lovely Bones

Her Lovely Bones 
With one member gone, the family is not whole.
You can grasp to one another,
or run away into a world all by yourself.

But when you step outside an dlook up to the light,
there's a connection that will never be broken. 

A life that ended, too early to be right,
in suffereing she died and put up a fight.
To a man that still remains unknown,
it's scary to know he's still out there, alone.

A hand that you will never get to hold,
of Susie Salmon,
A life led wrong that will never be experienced.

Her bones kept in a box, locked away,
the only evidence left are
Her Lovely Bones. 



      One member gone, the family should grow closer together.  But are they?  The Lovely Bones is a book (that was turned into a movie) by Alice Sebold.  Susie Salmon, 14, was raped and then killed and the murderer remains unknown.  But I have been noticing different things about relationship between the family members.  Some are growing closer together, and others just farther apart.  I wrote about the relationshp between the families, the connection that some members still have with Susie, Susie's murder and the guy who did it and her Lovely Bones.  I felt these were all important topics that so far describe the book in parts.  And when I put all of them together, it flowed and gave you flash backs of events.

      The relationships that I was referring to that were growing closer together was Lindsay and her father's.  They have been helping eachother out, without even speaking.  The ones that were distancing are the mother's from the rest of the family.  She always seems way out there, and even cheated on her husband with Len Fenerman, the head police chief.  Susie's dad still has a connection to Susie, he feels her presence and talks to her.  He tells her that he is going to find the man who killed her.  The man who did it, is still out there, not found yet.  Susie suffered and tried to fight him off but its didn't work.  Susie's bone are locked away and in abox, with the rest of her parts that her murderer kept.  Susie will never be able to expereience life and family and just the joy of living.  You know why?  Because Susie was killed and she's gone, for good.

Romeo and Juliet #2- My Favorite Character

            Romeo and Juliet has so far been a “journey” to read.  So many things have already gone on and I am starting to develop feelings and emotions toward characters and events that go on.  My of the characters are different with very bold personalities.  Some characters I like and some I don’t like so much, or what they stand for.  So far, I have got to say that Juliet is my favorite character.  I feel admiration toward her and a connection between us because she doesn’t let other people influence her and because she is daring. 

            Juliet doesn’t let anyone influence her, the things that she does or the decisions that she makes.  She is single minded and only focuses on what she thinks and doesn’t listen to all of the other people trying to convince her of things.  For example, the Capulets want Juliet to marry Paris just because he is rich.  They think that he would be right for her.  Lady Capulet tried to convince Juliet that she should marry him by telling her that she got married and had children at a really young age, even younger than Juliet.  This happens on page 27, line 12.  But, Juliet has a strong head on her shoulders and does not want to get married so soon.  So on page 39 line 71, she says “It is an honor that I dream not of.”  She stood strong on this and wouldn’t budge when her mother, Nurse and father tried to convince her.  This shows that she is persistent but even better she has a mind of her own.

            Besides being wise and not a follower, Juliet is also very brave and daring.  Her braveness draws you to her and you want to have that sure confidence and dare to do what you want.  Juliet doesn’t care that something bad would happen; she still does it and takes a chance.  For instance, Juliet met Romeo and it was love at first sight.  She didn’t know that he was a Montague but when she found out, she didn’t care.  She still loves him and is risking bother her life and his so that they can be together.  Juliet is risking her life as a Capulet and her spot in her family to be with Juliet.  She doesn’t care about who he is and what family feuds went on in the past.  All she cares about is now, and loving Romeo.  “Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet,” line 39, 2.2.  She would change her name and no longer be a Capulet.  She dares to dream and takes chances.  She is a risk taker.  She makes everyone want to jump… with her.

            My favorite character is probably Juliet Capulet.  She has that charisma and she inspires me to be my own person and be a leader and to take chances no matter what the risk.  From now on, I want to listen to my heart and listen to me and not be influenced by everyone else and what they might think.  I also want to take chances for things I feel strongly about, maybe even love.  I want to be like Juliet. 

             

Romeo and Juliet Friend Letter (1.1)

Dear Friend,

            I am currently reading the legendary Romeo and Juliet by the famous Shakespeare.  I know you have definitely heard of it.  But, it is different from what you would expect.  You would think that it’s just some old book with fancy words that you don’t understand but it isn’t.  It does have olden words but it is interesting with a twisted plot, and I just started!  I already noticed many things about the characters, plot and writing technique.  My mind is already bubbling with thoughts and feelings about the book.   

            Even though I have only read the first scene, I already observed many things about it. I notice that besides Shakespeare using language from his time period, he also used big vocabulary.  He used words such as tyrant and more.  This made me question, what is a tyrant?  I also noticed that Shakespeare doesn’t come right out and say things.  You have to some what read in between the lines and infer about what they are saying.  This then connects back to the use of big words and older words.  It makes it a little harder to read and understand.  But with the key that they have on the left every other page really helps.  It gives you a good definition of some of the words they believe you are stuck on and usually they are right.  The formal language that is used is used within the dialogue, the characters talk very formally to each other.  Lastly, Shakespeare makes the important characters talk a lot at once.  At certain points they have one character saying a whole paragraph.  For now, this is what I observed.

            I already have a list of thoughts and feelings about this one scene that I jotted down while reading in my notebook.  I feel that because of this one family’s fighting, everyone is involved and they really have no choice but to be involved.  If they were to act normal with the “enemy” then their life would be on the line.  Even the servants have to be involved; the servants who really have no life have to look forward to fighting.  Speaking of fighting, I already think that there is going to be a lot of fighting in this book because of all of the anger these people have.  They already broke out into fighting a couple of times.  There is one person besides the prince that I feel gets treated royally is Romeo.  Not just because he is the main character but he is special and I want to know why.  Hopefully, later on in this book I will find out why.  In addition, I think that Romeo and his cousin Benvolio have a special bond.  I think they share a brotherly love, even though they are only cousins.  I feel that they are always going to be together because they trust each other.  I can’t wait to see this bond and many other things in this book grow.

            To sum everything up, so far I like this book and I would recommend it to you already.  There are many words you may not understand but you will understand the story line.  My experience has already been an interesting one and I have been enjoying reading a book I always wanted to read and being the characters (in class).  I am excited to continue.  If you listen to me and decide to read this book, my advice to you is to break up every sentence you may not quite get and take notes on what you’re reading for an advanced book like this.  Also, if you read it you should definitely use the key on every left page for help.  I will update you on my findings.  Happy reading!

                                                                                                Love,

                                                                       

                                                                                                Alli